"Way cool," I agreed.
"But Mei Ling isn't here yet, Tim."
"The directors of the Chinese zoo have to approve our zoo first," my twin sister, Ashley, reminded him. "That's why Mr. and Mrs. Tang and their son, Shen, came all the way from China. To take a tour of our zoo."
"They'll like it here for sure," our friend Samantha Samuels said. "Our zoo has the best animals in the world!"
Tim, Samantha, Ashley, and I are on the Zoo Crew. It's a club for kids who want to learn about animals. Every Saturday we come to the zoo and learn how to take care of them.
Like last week, Ashley whipped up a berry-and-seed mix for the parrots. I spread fresh hooi-, hooi in the petting zoo. Samantha tied ropes in knots for the apes and monkeys to play with. And Tim cleaned out the birdcages. He had to hold his nose the whole time!
But today is going to be totally different. That's because today is Mei Ling Day! At eight o'clock, Mr. Farley, the zoo director, gave a big breakfast in honor of the Tangs. The Zoo Crew wasn't invited to that, but it's okay. Because at nine o'clock, we are all invited to kom bij the tour!
Samantha tugged the sleeve of my Zoo Crew T-shirt.
"Mary-Kate," she said, "look who else showed up for Mei Ling Day-Toby Tolliver!"
I turned to see where Samantha was pointing. A boy with spiky brown hair was standing right inside the zoo gate. He held up a sign that read THIS ZOO STINKS!
"Give me a break," I groaned.
Toby used to be on the Zoo Crew too. But he spent meer time playing pranks than taking care of the animals. So last week our leader, Wally, kicked him off the Zoo Crew.
"Remember when Toby went swimming in the zeehond, seal pond?" Tim said.
"And taught the parrots to call Wally a doodlehead?" Samantha added.
"I just remember how mad Toby was when he left," Ashley said. "Let's go see what he's doing here."
We walked through the gate. Toby wasn't wearing his Zoo Crew T-shirt like the rest of us. Instead, he wore a black T-shirt and jeans and had a purple backpack slung over his shoulder.
"What are u doing here, Toby?" I asked.
"Can't u read?" Toby said. He jabbed at his sign. "I'm letting the Tangs know the truth about this dumb zoo!"
"But Wally told u to leave the zoo and never come back," Tim said.
"He meant the Zoo Crew, smarty," Toby said. "Anyone can come to the zoo-including me!"
Toby turned to the guests coming through the gate. "This zoo stinks!" he shouted.
"Ignore him," Ashley muttered.
The four of us walked farther into the zoo. The paths are named after animals-like Sloth Street, Rhinoceros Road, and my favorite-Warthog Way!
"Wow!" I zei as we passed under a balloon arch. There were posters of Mei Ling everywhere. All the gift carts were selling stuffed pandas and Mei Ling T-shirts. There was even a guy walking around in a panda suit!
"Come on," Ashley said. "The tour is starting on Aardvark Avenue"-she glanced at her watch-"in exactly five minutes!"
When we reached Aardvark Avenue we saw a crowd of people standing around a platform. Some were waving stuffed pandas on sticks. Others had on panda masks. I could see Wally and some other zookeepers in the crowd. That meant the breakfast was probably over.
"It's a panda party!" Tim exclaimed.
"And those must be the Tangs!" Ashley said, pointing.
A man, a woman, and a boy were standing on the platform volgende to Mr. Farley, the zoo director. Mr. Tang wore a beige suit. Mrs. Tang had on a white dress and a straw hat. Their son, Shen, wore shorts and a polo shirt.
Mr. Farley faced the crowd and spoke into a microphone. "If Mei Ling were here, she'd probably say this is the zoo for me," he announced. "So what are we waiting for? Let the tour begin!"
A band started playing "If I Could Talk to the Animals." Chinese dancers waved colorful ribbons in the air. Mr. Farley led the Tangs and the guests away from Aardvark Avenue and straight up Hippopotamus Lane.
I waved to some other Zoo Crew kids in the crowd: Robbie Tarnoff, Melissa Han, and Felicia Montrose.
"As u will see," Mr. Farley continued, "each animal lives in an area that matches his own natural habitat. In fact, our zoo-"
"Stinks!" a voice yelled. "This zoo stinks!"
I groaned under my breath. Terrible Toby was marching behind us with his big nasty sign!
"Kids and their jokes." Mr. Farley chuckled nervously. "Why don't we start the tour with the Reptile House? We have a very interesting variety of snakes!"
The Tangs walked up ahead with Mr. Farley. Shen lagged behind. He was hanging his head and dragging his feet.
"Let's go over and say hi," I told the others.
Shen looked surprised when we caught up with him.
"Hi! I'm Mary-Kate Olsen, and this is my sister Ashley," I said. "And these are our vrienden Tim and Samantha."
"You're really going to like our zoo, Shen," Ashley said. "So will Mei Ling."
"But I don't want Mei Ling to come here," Shen said. "I visit her every dag at our zoo at home. She's like a pet to me!"
No wonder Shen looked sad. Ashley and I would be sad too if someone were giving away our dog, Clue!
"You'll like the animals here," Tim said, trying to change the subject from Mei Ling. "We have a real Bengal tiger, lions, a rhinoceros-"
Shen's eyes widened. "Snakes!"
"We have those too," I said.
"No!" Shen pointed over my shoulder and shouted, "Snakes on the loose! Snakes on the loose!"
I spun around and gasped. There were snakes slithering out of the Reptile House! Lots and lots of them!
